‘Finding Dory’ splashes the box office competition with an estimated $73.2 million

“Finding Dory” easily held off the debut of “Independence Day: Resurgence” to remain the box office champ at the North American movie theaters this weekend.

A week after energizing the summer season, Disney/Pixar’s “Finding Dory” declined only 46% and generated the eighth-highest second weekend of all time, edging “Captain America: Civil War”.

That figure far surpassed the $41.6 million (£30.4 million) opening of Independence Day: Resurgence.

Blake Lively’s new shark-attack thriller The Shallows debuts at four with a $16.7 million (£12.2 million) first weekend haul, and Oscar victor Matthew McConaughey’s new historical drama Free State of Jones rounds out the US box office top five with a lowly $7.7 million (£5.6 million).

“Free State of Jones”, starring McConaughey as the leader of a rebellion against the Confederacy, came in fifth and finished below forecasts.

“Independence Day: Resurgence”, which cost $165 million to produce, is yet another sequel to struggle this summer, joining the likes of “Alice Through the Looking Glass” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows”.

In the film, DeGeneres reprises her role of Dory, a forgetful fish first seen in the hit 2003 animated film Finding Nemo.

Central Intelligence took in $4.7-M overseas for an early foreign take of $14.3% and worldwide box office of $83.6-M.

Central Intelligence, the comedy starring The Rock and Kevin Hart, finished the weekend third earning almost $18.4 million.

The big opening next weekend is another redo of an old film topic, “The Legend of Tarzan”.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at USA and Canadian theaters, according to comScore.